This is going to be one of the more difficult post that I have tried to write, mainly because there is very little information about the people involved extant on the internet, which is to me a great surprise – but we must make the best of it because the legacy of their music needs to be shared.
Let’s begin with the violinist Jenny O’Connor. Her Facebook provides us with snippet of information. “My name is Jenny and I play the fiddle. I don’t call myself The Hot Violinist, but the catchy name was used for a video that a fan posted of me on YouTube. If that means that more people hear the music, and even better, come here to learn to play, I’m all for it! You can call me anything you like… I’m still just a girl on a journey.” Sadly the new website to which she directs people is still under construction and has been since about 2017. Here she is in solo moment with the Game of Thrones theme.
Circa Paleo, whose name seems to mean approximately ancient, desrcibe themselves in these terms: ‘Embracing rhythms and melodies that breach the boundaries of region and era, Circa Paleo draws upon varied global influences to bring unlikely musical combinations to the here and now. As our interpretations meet exotic traditions, the folk music evolution continues.’
They used to frequent the so called ‘Renaissance Fairs” which abound in America, I assume that this is because the nation did not exist in Renaissance days and therefore they want to capture something of it for themselves. Here they interpret that other noted Renaissance musical troupe – Led Zeppelin.
I leave you with one more song performed at the whimsically named ‘Mucky Duck’ in Houston, Texas. Here they play Fir Bolg a tune named after the medieval Irish myth, the Fir Bolg (also spelt Firbolg and Fir Bholg) are the fourth group of people to settle in Ireland. However to me the tune sounds more Mid Eastern than Irish.
